Facebook today announced enhanced privacy and security features for Messenger on iOS, including a new "App Lock" feature. With this enabled, Facebook Messenger will require Face ID or Touch ID authentication before it is opened.

NRP Messenger Introduces App Lock Privacy Settings banner FINAL
The company hopes that this will let users feel more comfortable when letting someone else borrow their phone, preventing anyone else from viewing private Messenger chats. Facebook said that the user's fingerprint or face data is "not transmitted to or stored by Facebook."

To enable App Lock, Messenger users can head to the new "Privacy" section in settings. In addition to App Lock, the company is planning to launch more privacy controls over the coming months.

App Lock launches today on iPhone and iPad, and will roll out to Android in the next few months.

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
58 months ago
Finally, my Facebook data is safe with me, Mark Zuckerberg, and anybody else at Facebook.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
58 months ago

The fact that FB forces you to use a separate app for chat is ridiculous.
Forcing us to have the whole Facebook app just for chat WOULD be ridiculous.
I remember how bloated it was back in the days.

With just the Messenger app, I can uninstall the Facebook app and save time I would have wasted in their app otherwise. And the more you look at the news feed, even if you don't interact, the more data they collect about you.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slineaudi Avatar
58 months ago
Why doesn't apple just include a "require authentication before opening" switch for individual applications with the other privacy options like location, camera, etc. That way you could protect any apps without waiting for the app dev to build something in.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ericgtr12 Avatar
58 months ago
The fact that FB forces you to use a separate app for chat is ridiculous.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HappyDude20 Avatar
58 months ago
That’s cool and all, but at the end of the day I don’t trust Facebook.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
matt3526 Avatar
58 months ago

Facebook said that the user's fingerprint or face data is "not transmitted to or stored by Facebook."
Only because apple goes to great lengths to prevent it. Otherwise Facebook would store and sell it to everyone.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...